Professor Mark O'Hara, Senior Consultant for Education at Advance HE, explains how Elevate Ireland is creating new opportunities for higher education professionals in Ireland to showcase their innovative practice.
Elevate Ireland is a new Advance HE Member Benefit for 2025-26 designed to celebrate and share educational excellence across Irish higher education. It provides a national platform for academics and professional staff to showcase innovative, evidence-based practice that enhances student learning and success.
At its core, Elevate Ireland supports Advance HE’s mission to advance teaching, learning and leadership excellence within international frameworks, particularly the Professional Standards Framework.
We’re looking for examples of excellence in future-facing curriculum transformation, employability, universal design for learning, students as partners, and other innovations in teaching, learning, assessment, student enablement and staff development.
Is it for you?
Elevate Ireland is aimed at those contributing to educational excellence – from those leading systemic and institutional change to those innovating within individual classrooms.
It is designed for staff and institutions within the Irish higher education sector who are committed to enhancing teaching, learning and student and staff experience. This includes academic, professional services and other staff involved in curriculum design, teaching, assessment, learner support and development, educational developers, learning technologists and programme leaders who drive change and innovation at course and programme level.
It also includes students acting as co-creators in educational development, and institutional leaders with an interest in learning, teaching and student experience.
How you can get involved
We’re inviting people who work in Irish HE to propose case studies via the Advance HE website to showcase their excellence. We’re also running workshops which will foster collaboration and networking opportunities to exchange knowledge and ideas across the sector.
It’s a real opportunity to enhance institutional reputations and to support staff development, particularly through engagement with sector-recognised professional frameworks and peer learning opportunities. Ultimately, Elevate Ireland strengthens the capacity and visibility of individuals within Irish HEIs and the institutions themselves as global exemplars of high-quality, inclusive education.
The call to action is very simple: share your story and help shape the future of higher education in Ireland. We’re inviting staff from Irish member institutions to submit a case study of up to 1,000 words that demonstrates how their teaching, learning or assessment practices have made a meaningful impact. Submissions should connect with one of the Elevate Ireland themes, such as curriculum transformation, employability or Universal Design for Learning.
Successful authors will have the opportunity to present their work at spotlight sessions and contribute to national dialogue around educational excellence. This is a chance to elevate your practice, amplify your student success and contribute to a collective vision of an inclusive, forward-looking education sector.
Mark O’Hara is a Principal Fellow, National Teaching Fellow and a winner of the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) in the UK. Mark is a former Chair of the UK’s CATE-Network and has over 30 years’ experience leading educational change in a wide variety of roles.
Call for submissions
Our call for submission form, accessible to members in Ireland, is now open.
We’re inviting submissions of case studies from our Ireland members to be publicised in our Digital Showcase Publication.
Deadline for submissions is on 1 December 2025. Find out more
